Improvement in fruit-cans



UNITED STATES JEHU B. MGNABB,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF SALEM, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN FRUIT-CANS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 183,953, dated October 31, 1 876; application filed August 22, 1876.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEHU B. MGNABB, of Salem, Oolumbiana county, and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvement in Fruit-Cans; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and complete description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of the same.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the can-cover. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a modification of Fig. 1, of which Fig. 4 is a transverse section. Fig. 5 is also a modification of Fig. 1, of which Fig. 6 is a transverse section.

Like letters refer to like parts in the several views.

The nature of this invention relates to fruitcans; and the object of which is to provide a means of closing the vent in the cover of the can to prevent steam, &c., from bubbling up through the wax or cement at the time of sealing the vent.

The said invention is described more fully as follows: In fruit-cans a small perforation or vent is sometimes made in the cover for the escape of steam, gas, 850., during the time of securing the cover to the can, directly after which the perforation or vent is closed by dropping thereon wax or other suitable material, which, in view of the fact that the can remains hot for a time after the sealing is done, the wax used for that purpose does not immediately set or harden, consequently steam, heated air, &c., continues to escape from the can through the vent by forcing its way through the yet soft wax, which is little more than a thin film covering the vent, as most of the wax applied to stop the vent having spread more or less over the cover around the vent, leaving, as before said, a mere film over the perforation, which breaks away and bubbles up by the escaping steam, gas, &c. This film of wax when hardened is very liable to have air-holes remaining therein or about it, through which air finds its way into the can, to the injury of its contents. The said film of wax is also liable to break away while handling the can when cold, and admit the air into it. To prevent this spreading of the wax over the warm surface of the cover, and to retain it directly upon the vent to arrest the escape of steam, heated air, &c., at the proper time, and a consequent introduction of air into the can through the broken wax, is the purpose of this invention, which consists in forming a depression or recess in the cover A of the can, as will be seen at A, Figs. 1 and 2. In the said recess or cavity is made a perforation or vent, B, as shown.

It will be obvious that in thus depressing the cover of a can, and forming, as it were, a cup or basin for receiving the melted wax, the wax will be concentrated and retained by the cup directly upon the vent, and not diffused over the surface of the cover; hence the sealing will be effectually done, the mass of wax held in the recess being sufficient to resist the escape of steam, &c., from the can, and at the same time is protected from injury in and by the cup A when handled, thus effectually closing the vent.

A modification of the said cup or deflection and vent consists in striking up an annular ridge or groove around the vent B, as seen at G, in Figs. 3 and 4, or a combination of a bead and recess, as shown at D and E, in Figs. 5 and 6.

The Vent may be made in the bottom of a can in the same way as in the cover.

The tops and bottoms of cans are made as an article of trade for the manufacturers who make the body of the can, and adapted to such tops and bottoms; but said tops and bottoms are not provided with a vent. It is proposed to make said tops and bottoms with a cavity and vent, of the characters herein described, at the time of making them, and formed by the same dies by which the tops and bottoms are struck up.

The above-described improvement may be applied to cans made of other material than tin.

What I claim as my improvement, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A new article of manufacture, a cover or bottom for fruit-cans having a recess or cup, A, with a vent, B, therein, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

J EHU B. MoNABB. Witnesses:

Rnsn TAGGART, LUOIEN L. GILBERT. 

